Cicadas Are About To Return To Maryland

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- They aren't cute and they are not music to your ears. After a 17 year absence, noisy cicadas are prepared to emerge this spring.

Meghan McCorkell has more on this year's brood about to be heard.

This brood of cicadas were born underground but once the soil warms up, they're going to fly up to the surface.

Billions of cicadas will make themselves heard in parts of western Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia.

"Each year, in some part of the country, almost every year, there is what we call a brood of periodical cicadas emerging," said Michael Raupp.

This specific set of cicadas are from brood 5. The brood last emerged back in 1999.

While they only live 2-4 weeks, they make the most of this time by trying to attract a mate through their song. Some cicadas can be heard up to one mile away!

These noisy bugs won't hurt you, your children or your pets---but your small trees may not be so lucky.

"Those females are going to go up to the treetops, they're going to lay eggs in those tender chutes and if people have played fruiting trees this year---peaches, apples---and they're still saplings, they could be damaged," he said.

Fortunately, this is not the brood that affects Maryland the most...that brood is expected to emerge in 2021.

Cicadas have been known to confuse the sounds from power tools to be other cicadas so if you're near them while mowing your lawn, they could land on you.